EA’s stock is getting slammed — this chart explains why

For better or worse, when it comes to the financial performance of Electronic Arts, it really is in the game.

EA shares are down sharply in early trading after the video game company slashed its full-year guidance for bookings, citing the underperformance of fantasy role-play game “Dragon Age” and“EA SPORTS FC 25” — the company’s rebrand of what was its crown jewel, the FIFA series, and its 32nd soccer game since 1993.

In its preliminary Q3 results, EA said that net bookings for the full year will now be between $7 billion and $7.15 billion, falling short of the expected $7.5 billion to $7.8 billion it had outlined previously. What this might signal more broadly, though, is that hype around one of the most popular sporting video games of all time — which was also a cash cow for EA — is fading.

After FIFA reportedly demanded its payout double to $300 million per year, the two companies ended their long standing deal following the 2022 Qatar World Cup. Since then, EA has pushed on, changing the game’s name to EA FC — which seemed to have paid off with last year’s EA FC 24, listing over 14.5 million active accounts within four weeks of launch. But now, the magic seems to have been lost, with die-hard fans of the series complaining on Reddit, including one user saying, “EA FC 25 is definitely the worst game in history.”

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